


Oblivious

by GodricSalzaar16



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, College, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Getting Together, High School, M/M, Oblivious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-17 21:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11859924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodricSalzaar16/pseuds/GodricSalzaar16
Summary: Robb Stark was nothing if not intuitive. That being said, he had absolutely no idea how he missed the fact that basically all of his siblings were in relationship. Hell, he even missed the fact that he, himself, was in a relationship, and with his best friend no less.ORHow Robb, ever the big brother, completely misses that fact that he, as well as all of his siblings, are in relationships, and how things unfold from there.1 - Rickon and Shireen2 - Arya and Gentry3 - Bran and Jojen4 - Sansa and Margaery5 - Jon and Ygritte6 - Robb and Theon





	1. Thanksgiving

Robb Stark was nothing if not intuitive. That being said, he had absolutely no idea how he missed the fact that basically all of his siblings were in relationship. Hell, he even missed the fact that he, himself, was in a relationship, and with his best friend no less. But that was a different story and not the one he was thinking about right now. Because right now, he sat at the extremely large and overcrowded dinner table, on Thanksgiving, looking around at his siblings and their various significant others.

 

There was Rickon, sitting red-in-the-face next to an equally red-in-the-face Shireen Baratheon. And Jon, with his wild, loud, opinionated redheaded girlfriend Ygritte. And of course, Sansa who sat next to her girlfriend, Margery. And then there was Bran, ever quiet Bran who was shyly holding his boyfriend – Jojen’s – hand. And who could forget Arya, lounging comfortably next to Gendry “I-Don’t-Own-A-Shirt” Waters (who had thankfully worn a shirt for this occasion), her boyfriend. 

Looking back now at the past year and a half, he wondered how he could have missed it. It was all very blatantly obvious to him now. Sansa with her permanent heart eyes directed at Margery at all times. And Jon, who had sworn up and down that he could never like anyone who was part of the Wildlings (soccer group from a neighboring school – Ygritte was the only girl, and she kicked ass) on just the bare principle, but could never shut up about how good her plays were. And Rickon, who blushed like a tomato whenever someone so much as mentioned Shireen’s name. At least with Bran it was a bit harder to spot. Although he and Jojen’s hadn’t been friends for that long, Robb had always assumed Bran hung out with the Reeds because he had a crush on Meera – Jojen’s older sister – but it seems he had been mistaken (if the way Bran shyly smiled up at Jojen every chance he got was any indication).

  
And nudge in his ribs knocked him out of his reverie, and he turned his head to look at Theon, who looked amused. _The bastard,_ Robb thought to himself. He’d known about all of their relationships since way before Robb had found out.

 

And he’s only defense was, “I was betting against your mother to see how long it would take you to figure it out. She bet three months, I bet that it would take longer. Thanks for the cash, by the way,” and with that he had winked and continued in his task of making pancakes.

 

Honestly, that should have tipped him off to the relationship between the two of _them_ , but, _no_ it hadn’t. Because while, yes, Robb was intuitive, he was really fucking oblivious sometimes. Theon especially could attest to that.

  
“A toast!” his father declared, drawing everyone’s attention. Ned smiled brightly at them, holding a champagne glass high and proud.

 

“We have been so blessed this year -It really seems like just yesterday you were all young and bright eyed and looking for something and someone new. Your mother and I,” he paused, and looked at Catelyn from across the table with a wide smile, “we are so very glad that you have each found someone who makes you happy. To the rest of the year and all those to come!”

  
“Hey, hey!” they all cheered, laughing and clinking glasses. Robb looked back at Theon – who was laughing along with Jon at something Ygritte had said – and looked away with a small smile. His father was right, it looked like they had each found someone who made them happy. He felt that statement was even more true when he looked out at the rest of the table again. Beaming faces and loud laughs. It felt truly perfect.

 

His mind slipped a little, the scene before him changed, and suddenly, he was sitting at a much less crowded table, younger and so very unhappy. He banished that image immediately and shook his head. He was better now, they were all so much better now. And he was glad for it. He marveled a little at what a change a year and a half could bring.

 

 


	2. Forests & Friendships & The Absence of Last Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rickon and Shireen meet and become friends and later they become more

When he was fourteen years old, Rickon wanted to be an explorer. He would spend hours in the forest just outside their property (under the watchful eye of Hodor of course) just running around, climbing trees, picking up various things to examine later when he got back home. His parents and siblings found it endlessly amusing, especially because he always came back home completely soaked and covered in mud, but with the biggest grin on his face. That being said, he’d never found anything that interesting in the forest, except for the cool, black rocks at the lake, or the cave by the river or the view from the highest tree he could find. Other than that, it was mostly dead animals and twigs and leaves.

  
So one day, when he’s wandering ahead of Hodor as usual, arms out to help him balance as he walked across a fallen log, heading towards the lake, he almost falls into the water when he catches sight of a girl sitting on the rivers edge, her feet dipped in the water as he sundress flowed around her and her hair blew lightly in the breeze. Rickon thought she kind of looked like one of those fairytale princesses Sansa liked so much. He half expected birds to start chirping in song around her.

  
Her hair was blonde, and she was fairly light skinned, from what he could see. She was turned away from him, so he couldn’t see her face.

  
“Hello,” he said, after a moment. She turned to him, startled, a hand pressed to her heart as her gaze roamed over him.

  
“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. You see, I come here everyday, and there usually isn’t anyone here, but me – and Hodor of course; so I was a bit surprised to see someone else here. What’s your name? Mine’s Rickon. It’s pretty nice out here, don’t you think?” he asked, as he made his way over to sit next to her.

  
“You talk a lot, don’t you?” she said, her voice soft as she examined him curiously, like she wasn’t sure what to make of him. He smiled at her.

  
“Well my dad says I do, you siblings too, but my mom says I shouldn’t mind them too much, that if it weren’t for my “mindless chatting” their lives wouldn’t be the same, or something like that. I doesn’t matter really, I like talking, you know? It fills the silence. And who cares if I talk too much? They’re just jealous because they can’t think of anything to say,” Rickon said with a shrug.

  
She smiled at this, and he felt a slight flush reach his cheeks and his heart beat just a little bit faster. What the hell is wrong with me? He thought to himself, as he ran sweaty palms down the front of his trousers. He had to admit that she had a really nice smile though.

  
“Well, it might be a little bit harder when you don’t have anyone to talk to,” she said, and her eyes looked sad. She looked away from him and back towards the water. It was close to the evening, so the sun was starting to set, casting a soft orange glow on the water. It glittered beautifully, and Rickon ran his hand through the water, causing ripples to appear.

  
“Well, I’m here now, you could talk to me?” he asked.

  
He saw the small smile tugging at her lips, but she said nothing for a while. Rickon was ready to remain quiet if that’s what she wanted (unlike whatever Robb said, he could restrain himself when it was necessary).

  
“This is my favorite time of day. When the sun is setting and everything just looks – soft. Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like the most relaxing part of the day. I don’t get to leave the house much, my father says it’s better that way – so I don’t have many friends. And people at school, we’ll….let’s just say they don’t like me very much, so yeah,” she sighed, tired, “I’m sorry if I’m very quiet, I’ve never really had the chance to talk to people my own age, if any people at all. That must sound all kinds of depressing.”

  
Rickon wasn’t going to lie, all of it did sound very depressing. But what he couldn’t understand was why anyone would treat her that way. She seemed nice enough, didn’t complain about how much he talked, and she had a nice smile.

  
“Why don’t they like you?” he asked.

  
“It’s mostly because of my family, but also because of this – ,” she said, turning to face him full on.

  
_Oh_ , he thought. Almost half of her face was disfigured in some way, the skin just a slightly different texture or color. He sort of understood then, because he’d bet his fair share of mean kids. It wasn’t easy being different in some way, whether it was in the way you spoke or the way you looked or where you came from, people always treated you horribly. It had happened with his half brother Jon, who had constantly been belittled at school for being an illegitimate son.

  
He couldn’t imagine how bad it must be for those girl. Looking different made it so much harder to fit in, especially with other children, because they were harsh and cruel.

  
“Well they’re idiots then. I can’t see anything wrong. I mean, so what if your face is a little different, you’re still really pretty!” he said, beaming at her shocked expression. He had no doubt that she hadn’t been expecting that.

  
“Y-you’re right,” she stuttered out, after a moment of silence, returning her smile.

  
“That’s one thing you’ve got to learn about me – I’m always right,” he said, and puffed out his chest a little.

  
She laughed at this, and Rickon had to say that she had a pretty nice laugh too. It wasn’t like other girls’, theirs were too loud, too high pitched and too fake. Hers was, soft, almost like the soft piano piece that Sansa liked to play. It made him want to laugh too.

  
“You never told me your name,” he stated.

  
“You never told me yours,” she shot back, cleverly and he laughed.

  
“I’m Rickon,” he said, holding out

a hand for her to shake. She hesitated for a moment before taking it firmly.

  
“I’m Shireen,” she said.

  
They both let go, but Rickon felt strange. His heart, which had already been steadily beating faster, was now racing. The blush that had reached his cheeks, now felt as if it had spread all the way to his neck. He had absolutely no idea what was happening to him, but he just hoped Shireen didn’t notice.   
They stayed there a while, not really talking about anything in particular. The sun was almost completely gone, just a faint glow on the horizon, and when Rickon turned down his gaze to the side, he saw Hodor, standing with his arms crossed and giving him a look that told him it’s time to go. Rickon nodded back at him, silently saying he’d be there in a minute.

  
“I have to go, but…” he said, “we can meet here tomorrow if you’d like. I mean, I’ve got school and other stuff until four, but after that I’m free. That is if you want to do that?”   
Shireen smiled brightly, “I’d like that.”

  
Rickon smiled back at her, and they both just sat there for a moment longer, before Hodor cleared his throat, startling them both. Rickon quickly stood up and wiped the dirt of his jeans. He made his way over to where Hodor was standing, and turned back to wave at Shireen.

  
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Rickon!” she shouted.

  
“I’ll look forward to it,” he yelled back.

With that, he and Hodor finally walked away, twigs and pine cones breaking under their feet. The journey was silent for once, as Rickon was to lost in his own thoughts to yammer on like he usually did. And Hodor noticed this, of course, and gave a knowing smile. Rickon caught this, and frowned.

  
“What?” Rickon asked.

  
Hodor just shook his head, a slight smile on his lips and continued on. Rickon was confused by this, but didn’t pester him about it.

  
When they made it back home, the sun had completely set, and all the lights were on. They entered through the back door, into the large kitchen. His eldest brother Robb, who was taking a break from school (his first year at uni) turned and grinned.

  
“Did you find anything interesting out there?” he asked, slicing what looked like a potato.   
Rickon was so tempted to just blurt out everything about what just happen. But he refrained, for reasons even unknown to him.

  
“You could say that, yeah,” he said, making his way to the staircase.

  
“Well that sounds ominous,” Robb said, with a laugh. Rickon responded with his own nervous laughter, but quickly escaped further questions by disappearing into his bedroom and slamming the door shut.

  
He let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to tell anyone about Shireen, just yet. He knew they’d make a big deal about it, so maybe he’d just keep it to himself for a while. A grin formed on his face all on its own. He absolutely couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

Every afternoon from that day on, Rickon and Shireen would meet in the woods by the lake. At first they didn’t talk about anything important, just what kind of books they read, movies and series they watched, sports they played and stuff like that – nothing really serious. But as weeks sped into months, heavier and heavier topics started coming up.

  
Shireen talked about school, and how horrible the children were. How they made fun of her, hoe even the teachers wouldn’t do anything. She talked about how she barely left the house, because everywhere she went people would look at her with disgust. She talked about how her father tried his best, but he wasn’t always around, and how even though he didn’t try to be neglectful, he always was.

  
Rickon listened, really listened to every word she said, and never judged. He could see these things were hurting her, and he tried his best to say the right thing, which in most cases was saying nothing at all. And because she told him so much, he thought it was only appropriate to tell her stuff abut him too.

  
So he told her about Catelyn and Jon, how his father had cheated and had a son, and how Catelyn hated him so much, that when he was finally sixteen, he got emancipated and left. He left for about a year, got a job, his own apartment, and almost never came home. It was horrible; the usual chatter was gone, and the silence was deafening. He told her about Bran, and he’s accident that cost him the use of his legs. And about Sansa, who’s awful boyfriend had tried to rape her.  
After almost a year, there was only one thing about each other that neither one of them knew – their last names. Shireen was completely against it, saying that he would probably hate her if he knew (which he reassured her that he wouldn’t), but Rickon was also quite hesitant.

  
He was so sure there wasn’t a person in town who didn’t know his family’s name. And sometimes that got him out of trouble, and sometimes it got him out of it. So he followed her lead, and in the end, it really didn’t matter, because whatever her last name was, she would always just be Shireen to him. He hadn’t told anyone in his family yet either, knowing they’d be weird about it.   
He missed Jon, and his constant willingness would listen. Arya would laugh at him, Sansa would be condescending, Bran had his own problems, and Robb would be way too inquisitive. So he kept her to himself, and he found it better that way. That is until his family’s annual gathering.

  
The Starks had a long standing tradition, to bring all the “founding families” together for a gala/ball/gathering/whatever every year. And all of the children had to attend.   
Most of the families were okay, there were the Greyjoys – Theon Greyjoy was Robb’s best friend – the Baratheons – Robert Baratheon was his father’s long time friend – the Lannisters – which consisted of Cersei, Robert’s ex-wife, her twin brother, Jamie, and their younger brother, Tyrion (who was one of Rickon’s favorite people – hell, he was probably everybody’s favorite person) – the Tyrells and the Targaryens.

  
Most of these families had children, but none of them were Rickon’s age. There were the three Baratheons-Lannisters, Joffrey, Mycella and Tommen. Then the Tyrells, but that was only Margaery, Loras and Willis, who were all closer to their older teens. And of course the Targaryens, Viserion and Danaerys – Dany was cool, Viserion was not – but they were grown up. Dany still had conversations with Rickon about different wildlife types and fauna – she was studying Science at University .

  
So Rickon honestly expected to be stuffed into a suit and thrown into the chaos, with only Arya – who hated socializing – to cling to. He didn’t expect to see Shireen there, looking beautiful in a floor length, sky blue dress. She looked completely out of place in the crowded room, with its dark colors and loud noises. To Rickon, she belonged next to a shimmering lake, so flowers in her hair and the sun causing her skin to almost glow golden.

  
“Shireen?” Rickon said, drawing closer, and noticed she stood next to Myrcella and Tommen. She turned quickly when she heard his voice.

  
“Rickon! What – ?” she asked, surprised.

  
“This is my family’s party,” he said, almost shyly.

  
“You’re a Stark?” Shireen asked, her eyes widening.

  
“Yeah, I am. And you’re a – ?” he paused, waiting for her to fill in the gaps.   
“Baratheon. My cousin,” Myrcella answered for Shireen, and _oh._

  
No wonder she hadn’t wanted anyone to know her last name, the Baratheons were notorious, especially Stannis Baratheon, one of the most ruthless businessmen in town. He didn’t blame her really, it just never occurred to him that she might be a Baratheon.

  
He associated Baratheons with Joffrey, and his assholeness and cruelty, Myrcella and her wicked beauty and quick thinking, and of course Tommen, with his thoughtful quietness. But not Shireen; Shireen belonged in a category all on her own. Smart, funny and beautiful. It honestly hadn’t taken Rickon that long time admit to himself that he had feeling for her. It was honestly just a matter of telling her that.

  
“Oh, cool,” Rickon said, making sure his tone was casual.

  
Shireen studied him, sort of like the first time they had ever met. They just stood there quietly, looking at each other, before she finally broke the silence.

  
“Let’s go talk somewhere else, yeah?” she asked, and he nodded.

  
The venue was the town hall, so there weren’t many places to go besides the offices or outside. So they went out into the cool night air, and just stood there for a few seconds.

  
“If you’re a Baratheon, how come I’ve never seen you around here before?” Rickon asked, and he fiddled with his tie.

  
“My dad never used to allow me to come, but this year Myrcella insisted, so I came. I didn’t expect to fund you here,” she said.   
“Same,” he laughed.

  
There was a pregnant pause between them, both unsure of what to say. It occurred to Rickon then, that this was probably the best time to tell her how he felt. Like Jon said, just rip the bandage off.

  
“So Shireen –“ he began, but   
“Rickon, I wanted to –“ she said.   
They both stopped and laughed.   
“Okay, ladies first,” he said, the an exaggerated gesture of his hand.

  
“There’s been something I wanted to tell you for a while now, but I didn’t want to make things weird, you know? But now that you know about,” she gestured to inside the building, “all that, I think maybe it’ll be okay.

  
“Because you’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to a best friend, and I’m so glad I met you, but I would just like to respectfully say that I don’t want to be your friend.”

  
“Oh,” he said, deflating. She must having realized, because she quickly added on,

  
“No, no, no, I don’t mean it like that. I mean,” she paused and signed lightly, looking away from him, “I really like you, as more than a friend, and I want us to be more than friends, but if you find that weird then I’ll understand, because we can just be friends, I really don’t mind, but that’s not what I want and you always told me to go after what I want, so I’m – “ _she’s so cute when she rambles_ , Rickon thought to himself, and he cut her off.

  
He stepped in front of her, tilted her chin up, and kissed her, right in the lips. It lasted for about almost twenty seconds, and it was very chaste. Her lips were soft against his, and a slippery from her lip gloss. As far as first-kisses went, it wasn’t bad, just neither of them really knew what they were doing, so it was a bit awkward. But he overlooked that for the fact that he was finally kissing Shireen, and she was, albeit a little awkwardly, kissing him back.

  
“I know exactly what you mean,” he said, when they pulled apart.

  
“I had a whole speech,” she laughed, resting her head on his shoulder as she so often did.

  
“Yeah, I saw that, and while I’d never pass on the opportunity to listen to you speak, I thought that would be a better idea.” He said, with a grin.

  
“Shireen? Are you out here? Shireen!” Myrcella’s voice rang out.

  
“That’s my que to leave, I guess,” she said.

  
“I guess so,” was all he said back. He had trouble fighting back the smile that threatened to take over his face.

  
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” she said, and he nodded. The stood there for a moment longer, just looking at each other.

  
“Shireen!” Mycella called again.

  
That startled them both, and Shireen quickly hugged Rickon tightly around the next, his arms closing around during her waist for a brief second before they pulled apart and she disappeared inside with on last smile.

  
He stood there for what seemed like a while after she had left, but was probably no more than a few seconds. Maybe it was just him, but the stars seemed brighter, the world louder. He sighed.

  
“Oh hello,” he heard Robb’s voice greeting Shireen and Mycella.

  
Robb made his way over to where Rickon stood, and the brother stood silently for a while, before Robb asked,

  
“Since when do you wear lip gloss?”

  
Rickon frowned, touching a finger to his lips, the came back glittery. His mouth fell open. Did Robb just assume it was his lip gloss? Hadn’t he just the walked passed Shireen, who was no doubt wearing the same shimmery substance on her lips, albeit a little smudged now?

  
My brother is really stupid sometimes, Rickon thought to himself, as he walked away from Robb whilst shaking his head. 

“What? What did I say?” Robb called after him.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any spelling and/or grammatical errors, as well as any inaccuracies


End file.
